Answer the following questions:
- How did you cast your broad net? Why did you choose that method? Was it helpful?
- What databases did you search first? Why? What route did you take through the databases?
- Once you got into the databases, was it difficult or easy to find what you were looking for? What made the process difficult or easy?
- What do you think might help you in the future when searching databases?
You do not have to
list your experience. State your experience in a way that is natural to you
(though you will want to keep an academic tone). Let your classmates know where you are struggling and succeeding. Be specific!
Due by before class on September 17th
Reply to classmate: find a classmate whose struggle you can identify with and offer a solution that you have tried or that you believe might be helpful. If you cannot find a struggle you understand, find a classmate whose triumph you can learn from, try that classmate's method(s) and then let your classmate know how or why their shared experience helped you.
Reply due by 5pm on September 19th.
I am finding it challenging to find the information that I am looking for in any databases, even though I know it exists. The subject that I chose is slightly controversial so a lot of databases don’t carry an abundance of the information that I am looking for. So far, my greatest success has come from using the YAHOO search engine. The only problem that I run into though is playing with the wording of my search so that I can narrow down my results, otherwise I get a ton that aren’t exactly credible. I have managed to find some good data so far and I feel that I have a pretty good start in the direction that I want to go. Next, I plan to see if GOOGLE has anything to offer me. I like using these two because, for my topic, it opens up a wider range of results for me to choose from as this assignment progresses.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried widening your topic or choosing another topic that has more information in the databases? As I started searching I had to change my topic around a little bit in order to find more credible articles. Knowing that this is the topic we will be working on for the rest of the semester made me realize I needed to find a topic that I could find a lot of information on so that I would be able to write a well- rounded and educated final paper.
DeleteI agree, there are several "fun" topics that one can choose but few of them have the academic backing needed for our final paper. (if you are planning on keeping the same topic) I think that the advanced search on any of the databases would help, especially google scholar and jastor since your topic is controversial or out of the norm for academic writing. I applaud you for choosing a difficult topic, because even with a broad topic, finding credible academic sources can be a challenge.
DeleteI started searching by using the databases on the Pikes Peak library’s website. I chose this method because it seemed to be the best way to find credible articles. I found it to be pretty helpful but it was hard to find the right word choice and order to narrow the search down to articles that were actually helpful. I also used Google and Yahoo to search for general information and they seemed to be decently helpful. I think as I play around more with the databases on the library’s website I will be able to narrow the searches down better and quicker.
ReplyDeleteI, too, had trouble with the wording on the library databases. Fortunately much like yourself, I would broaden my search and would find more results that way. Which specific database did you use? I chose to use Academic Search Complete. I found that I preferred some over others.
DeleteI also used Academic Search Complete but would like to explore more of the other ones.
DeletePlay around with the advanced search tool on all the sites, it is a super easy way to tell if your topic has relevant(2005-2014) and scholarly reviewed sources. Saves so much time!
DeleteI chose to begin researching my topic by simply using the school library's databases. I personally find these to be the most helpful, plus it didn't hurt that we had just went over how to do so in class. I first began with Academic Search Complete and much like my peers I had trouble with the wording. I had to switch it up a few times and realized I simply had to broaden it. Aside from the wording, once I got into the databases successfully I found several credible scholarly articles that I plan on using for my research paper. These resources are very helpful and I intend on using the databases as resources for even some of my other classes. In the future it might help to simply remind myself to not search specific words but rather general topics because more search results will appear this way.
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing on finding my topic as well! It was very helpful. Learning to put keywords for what you want is very important and remember that you can put and/not on the side when you continue your search. I found it very helpful to put some items that are not what you are looking for.
DeleteI'm having a tough time finding resources with the keywords. What do you mean by general topics vs specific words? For example, women in combat, women in the military are getting me mostly psychological studies. My interest is more in the changes in the military as a whole.
DeleteI thought that choosing an argument for an academic paper was harder than I was planning it to be, and ended up searching numerous different topics and theories. I found that it was easier to think about somewhat current issues because our sources have to be recent (2005-present). I even spent time in class today going back and forth on different topics, because honestly there are a ton of questions and arguments I have, but few of them had recent academic articles tied to them. Finally ,I started looking at the list of accepted and unacceptable topics and began searching them, this helped me get in the right mindset of asking academic questions instead of my natural abstract creative thinking. This class is definitely a challenge because there are so many questions and arguments can have about the world, and we have to pick one that is not too vast yet not to rare, because it would be to hard to find academic sources. I am using goggle scholar and the databases from the ppcc library to find my sources and love the ADVANCED SEARCH. That way I can zoom in on only academic articles that were only published in the acceptable time period. The advanced search is available on almost all the sites we need to use too, which is awesome, cause it saves so much time!
ReplyDeleteI also had a hard time when I initially chose my topic and came close to changing it a couple of times. But I stuck it out and kept researching it by playing with the wording of my search and trying numerous databases and finally, it started to work out for me. My greatest luck came with Google Scholar - I saw results almost immediately.
DeleteLooking for the databases for this essay was alright. I found it challenging in some parts but good in others. It was very difficult to find the topic I want to write about. I used the databases to put in multiple ideas of different topics to see what it is that interested. I wanted to find a topic that I would be interested as well as having multiple reasons and evidence. Unfortunately when I am at home, my computer can be irritating and slow so databases were difficult but I was able to use it at one point. I found it very helpful to put in keywords that I was looking for. In the future, I wouldn’t change really anything.
ReplyDeleteI have gone to Starbucks before and used their internet when mine at home has been acting up. It seems to be a fast internet connection and it's a quiet place to get stuff done.
DeleteI chose using the online library for Pikes Peak because we started learning how to use it in class. So far I have used epnet.com, which has been slightly helpful, but I'm not finding what I'm looking for. Maybe I need to change my search. I have found some interesting articles on my subject with the help of the research librarian. It's at least giving me a way to help formulate my academic questions. I feel that I need to spend some more time exploring the databases and defining better "search" criteria.
ReplyDeleteI chose to use EBSCO through the library detabase because it allows you to put specifically what you want, and it seemed like a more legit way of finding out information. It was helpful to an extent because it was hard for me to put the right key terms in to search. it was difficult to find what I was looking for because I kept putting in key terms, and I couldn't find what I was looking for at first. It would help if I put specific key terms into search.
ReplyDeleteI started on EBSCO first too, for the same reason. I found that I had to play around with the word order and choice so that I could get the articles I wanted. Sometimes being too specific will actually make it harder to find information. Did you continue to look on EBSCO or did you go to another database?
DeleteI’m not very good at casting a broad net but I just queried random interests of my topic to see how much information is easily accessed. My process is a tad bit inefficient, but I do not really know other ways to go about it. I searched EBSCO first mainly because that database is one of the easier ones to use, however; I did not expand my search to other databases. Going through the database took a bit of trial and error as some word combinations were not in the texts I was looking for. Overall it was not a very painful process. I think getting used to the tools available in the database makes all the difference; just knowing how to navigate and use the database to your advantage will help refine a search and grant you exactly what you are looking for.
ReplyDeleteI did not have too hard of a time casting a wide net, but I did struggle more with casting a smaller net to narrow down my actual topic, without finding a "silver bullet" article. How did you find EBSCO helpful in discovering a topic?
DeleteAfter I had the broad topic in mind, I looked at the results on just that subject. I then did a bit of reading to see what subtopics have more information or more discussion on them.
DeleteIn order to cast my broad net I simply used regular Google so I could gain more knowledge about my subject. I knew a little, but in order to develop a question I needed to learn more. This method was beyond helpful. I was able to come up with a large number of questions until I found one that not only intrigued me, but also draws out an issue I found. When I tried Google scholar I found there sources to be very unhelpful. I did not use Google scholar because I found it frustrating. Once I developed my more narrow question and started looking on EBSCO and found that my issue was very relevant. I was able to quickly find articles that were very helpful to my over all thought process. In the beginning I was overwhelmed with discovering a narrow question, but the more I read the easier it become.
ReplyDeleteI also was frustrated at first when I was looking for a topic but reading also helped me narrow it down. Where specifically did it help you most to read about your topic? I'm still having a little trouble finding general information on my topic.
DeleteWhen it came to general information I received the most help from Wikipedia surprisingly. I did not hold the information to a high level of validity, but it did help me to develop several questions that could lead to a specific topic. Once I found a question that was based on an issue I search EBSCO to see if the issue had true validity behind it.
DeleteOne of the first ways I broaden my search was a good old google search. I was kinda helpful for a bit but when you are looking up hate crimes, google gives a lot of irrelevant articles and data that i didn't need. The database that I started using for my research was the library database since it was recommend as the most effective way of finding sources for my topic. I search hate crime article from 2005 and the present as specified by our research paper guidelines. It actually helped when finding my first source. In the future, database searches should be more specific as of our topics, since it actually took me some time to find a source that could explain what I what I'm trying to explain with the growing rates of hate crimes.
ReplyDeleteI agree on the fact that, databases do not allow us to search very specific things. This is actually something that I was having problems with and I fixed it by using advice from other people in the class as well as Ms. Badovinac. They said to just simply research something that is very broad about your topic and most of the time, more specific topics of that one broad topic will come up.
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ReplyDeleteTo start off, I used Academic Search Complete on the library databases so I can search my topic on a wide range of sources. This definitely was helpful because I had entered a very broad topic into the search engine and it allowed me to narrow down my choices to a specific point. After I used the Academic Search Complete, I also used other databases like: Jstor and Google scholar. Unfortunately I wasn't really able to find sources on my topic so I had to change my topic to something that has been more researched on and written about. After I did that, it was much easier to find information because it made me narrow my topic to something more specific. It really had been a struggle for me to at last find good sources through library databases because of the fact that I'm used to simply using articles online that are not found on databases. Although this is true, I am still receiving help which is allowing me to understand more.
ReplyDeleteI really struggled with the databases too, and i had to change my topic as well. Searching for only keywords really seemed to help me. I feel like sometimes they just aren't good for what you're trying to find.
DeleteI used the library research to look up articles on homeless victims and how cities have changed the way they deal with them. The process was fairly hard as I had to rethink my question several times before I came to a conclusion. In the end I decided that I wanted to right about how cities have issued anti-homeless laws and forced the homeless into an even worse situation than they already are. I will be answering three questions. What has caused the sudden increase in the homeless population. How have cities attacked the homeless with these anti-homeless laws and why does it cause a negative look from cities that do not have such laws. I am in truth writing about this topic because I have been homeless for several years and I know what it is like to be treated like you are nothing just because you have nothing.
ReplyDeleteI admire your strength and honesty about your personal life. I too based my topic on situations in my life because I know I am a much better writer when I am writing about something that I am passionate about. My only struggle is fitting my personal life into the paper and still making it an academic paper. How do you plan to keep that balance?
DeleteI struggled at first with this assignment. I couldn't find sources; it was either too many or too little every time I searched the databases. I changed my topic and that seemed to help a bit. JSTOR and EBSCO had the most relevant sources for me. I also used google for some extra information.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a lot of the same struggles I did. I also has difficulties in the beginning and found relief by changing my topic. Google proved a good place for casting a wide net and i agree that EBSCO had very useful sources. I am not too familiar with JSTOR. How did you find this database useful is comparison to EBSCO?
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